You're My Hero
by Coolez
Summary: A month after staying at the Jaeger household, Mikasa was introduced to a certain blonde-hair, blue-eyed friend of Eren. [Cover Image: /1514235#full]
1. Chapter 1 - Early Mornings

It felt as if dawn came in a moment too early on that day. When the tiniest drop of sunlight reaches a girl whose hair is as dark as night, her black eyes sprung open. The little girl let out a soft yawn and hopped out of the bed she slept on. She raced to the table where her prized red scarf was, and put it on before running back to the bedside, where a certain boy was still in his slumber.

"Eren." Mikasa tried shaking his hand, calling him.  
>"Eren." Again, she called him, tickling his palm.<br>"Eren." For the third time, she'd bury her head on the boy's stomach, groaning, a pinch of impatience in her voice.

"Eren, you promised." she started muttering while her face was still planted on the boy's stomach, causing it to vibrate.  
>And waking him, of course.<p>

"Gah!" Eren screamed awake, causing Mikasa to jolt up. The nine-year-old boy rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms, yawning. "What is it?" Eren said lazily, still wanting to sleep.

"You said you'd bring me to see your friend." Mikasa pouted, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Eren smiled in a goofy manner, before turning back to sleep. "It's still too early, he might still be asleep." his voice buried under the blanket he had just claimed. "Besides, you can't go out with just your bedclothes and a scarf, get changed." he yawned and fell back asleep, leaving Mikasa on the floor.

The little girl stood up and looked at the mirror behind her. He was right. She was a mess at this state, and she would have to get changed. But she doesn't want to wait anymore, and bedclothes are _comfortable. _She sighed, grabbing her clothes from the closet that Eren now shared with her, and headed to the bathroom to make a change.

When she got out, her newly-adopted brother haven't still move an inch from his sleep. Mikasa slowly creaked up upon him, and poked his face, which in return had him turn over to the opposite side, revealing the rest of his face. It looked so peaceful that, she thought it'd be a great sin if she would wake him up at that moment.

As quiet as she possible could, Mikasa tip-toed to the door and left, whispering to him "I'll go ahead first, then.", careful enough not to make the slightest sound.

She avoided her adoptive parent's rooms, but left a notice of where she went on the table in the kitchen. The girl then jumped outside on her own, for the first time alone, since a while long ago. The reason for this behavior was simple, she was too enthusiastic in meeting a new friend, since Eren was all she got the past month - not that she doesn't like him, _he's family, _after all.

It's just that, a new friend doesn't sound like it will cause any harm.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Fountain on the Streets

She roamed the streets, packed with people.  
>Sure, it was early, yes, but concluded it is that most of the civilians here at Singashina are morning persons. The stall-keepers were all up on their morning market. and people were all over the place, talking, bargaining.<p>

Mikasa passed many of them, heading to the fountain where Eren told her that he would introduce his friend to her there. She hummed a tune while doing so, a melody that her adoptive mother would sing to her for the first few nights when she entered the family. It stuck with her, because she found it calming.

At sight of the place, her eyes fell upon a certain blonde who was sitting on the edge of the fountain, a book in hand. He was everything Eren described - a bit shorter than they were, round-faced, blonde and blue-eyed. She decided to march forward, towards him.

She stood inches in front of the blonde boy, a calm look on her face, not a word said. A few moments passed by, before the boy himself noticed her presence.

He lowered down his book and looked at her, both staring each other for the longest time. They blinked at the same time, the same pace, and their breaths were even.

"Hello...?" the boy squeaked, unsure. He held his book tight against his chest, afraid that the person in front of him might be a threat to him.  
>"Are you... Armin?" Mikasa mumbled behind her scarf, pulling it closer.<p>

"Yes- Are you the girl Eren's told me about?" Armin smiled, his voice was louder this time. "Mikasa?" he giggled softly, jumping off his seat. The girl just nodded, returning a smile of her own.

"Nice to meet you, Mikasa! I'm Armin." the little boy reached his hand out. Mikasa, unsure of what to do, just stared at his hand. For a while there, it was just silence between the two kids.

Then she decided to start poking his hand.  
>"They're soft." the black haired girl said, her little index finger poking the boy's palm. They were unusually warm, while hers were freezing. At a great speed, both her hands grabbed hold of Armin's strecthed out hand trapping it's heat.<p>

"They're warm, too." she giggled, causing Armin to blush slightly. _'She's so cute...' _he thought to himself, his eyes locked onto her face. Just then, he noticed the absence of a person too important.

Eren.

"Where's Eren?" he'd snapped out of his daze, now questioning his best friend's absence. He have had his hands released out of Mikasa's grip, now his eyes were searching all over to see if his friend had been standing there all this while.

"Eren haven't woke up yet." the little girl blinked blankly, again pulling her scarf. Armin hopped back on the edge of the fountain with his book. "Oh, when would he be here?"

"Don't know." she simply replied, quickly, precisely. Armin had a light thought, before motioning the place beside him. "Would you like to sit here while we wait?" he invited, a warm smile on his face.

Nodding, Mikasa hopped on the place beside him. Armin then took his book out again, and opened to the page he last read.

"Is that a book?" Mikasa asked, noticing the item on his hand. Armin nodded a yes, grinning slightly. "Yes, it is."

"My mother used to read books to me..." she let out a tiny tear, shocking Armin, who quickly tried to comfort here. "This book's about a brave princess, braver than even her knights! And there was this timid prince who fell in love with her." he quickly said. "Would you like to read it together with me while we wait for Eren?" he offered.

Mikasa's depressed expression changed into a happier one in a matter of a few seconds. She beamed happily, accepting the offer. Armin sighed out in relief, reopening his book.

"Once Upon a Time..." he starts, Mikasa leans closer to hear his story.

And the two went on for hours.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Knight and Three Dragons

Armin and Mikasa read through the story together, laughing, smiling. They were having the most fun of their life together, and they'd only just met.

All of the sudden, this happiness was shredded into pieces. Three boys - who appeared to be of the same age, or a little older - appeared in front of them. When Armin's eye caught hold of their presence, he was stoned right on spot.

They were all taller than Armin if compared - one with spiked blonde hair, who we could easily tell that he was the tallest among his friends, one with grey hair, who's height is in the middle category, and the shortest of the three with black.

"Oh, have our little Ar-Ar finally found a little girlfriend?" the taller one, who could be assumed leader, smirked. The two others just laughed at his comment.

"Get your butt off and come over here." he demanded. Armin remained stuck on his seat, his eyes widen in the state of shock. Mikasa looked at him, full of questions.

"Oi, sissy. I was talking to you." the taller one hissed again. Mikasa looked at them. All three of them had an angered, disgusted look, making her feel uneasy.

The shortest one went ahead and grabbed the book he was holding. Quickly, Armin snapped out of it and tried to retrieve it. "G-give it back!" he stuttered.

"Try getting it." he smirked, throwing it to his friend on the opposite side, who threw it to the other one. Armin tried catching it - but to no avail. Mikasa tried to help, but it didn't make any difference.

A while later, the book had fallen in the fountain. "Whoops." one of the bullies laughed historically. Armin panicked, trying to fish it back out. Mikasa, on the other hand, had gone furious under her scarf. She fixed it back tighter, before sending an icy glare at the bullies.

"Watch out." she warned, her tone steady and cold, sending the three of them backwards a few. "What are you going to do about it, little girl?" the leader stammered. Mikasa sighed, charging at him, tossing him onto the ground.

"This." she calmly replied.

The other two had quickly ran away from the scene, the leader struggling to tag along.

When she turned back at Armin, his eyes were wet, holding an entirely soaked book. Mikasa went nearer to him and patted him on his back.  
>"Thank you, Mikasa." he was grateful that she was here at that time, or not the situation would have been worse - he could have been beaten up.<p>

Mikasa simply nodded, her cheeks pinkish.

"You were really cool, too! Did Eren teach you that?" he was fascinated with her skills. "He helped." she looked away, putting her hands on the front pocket of her coat.

"Is your book okay?" she asked, concerned. He nodded, sighing in relief.  
>"It's a bit damp, but if I careful put it under the sun for a while, it'll be okay again!" he cheered. Mikasa, hearing his response, smiled alongside.<p>

Still, where's Eren?


	4. Chapter 4 - Brother

"Wait, Mikasa did... what?" Eren gasped, surprised at the story Armin had just told him. "You made it up, didn't you, Armin?" he was full of doubt that his adopted sister would go _that _far.

Armin sighed, holding out his damaged book. "Proof enough?" he laughed softly. Mikasa was still sitting beside him, caressing her own hair.

"How the..." Eren was still struck with disbelief. "You were late, Eren." Mikasa stood up, changing the subject. "Well, if we hadn't turned the whole house upside down looking for you, I wouldn't have been late!" Eren was clearly angered.

"I left a note. On the table." Mikasa told him. "There wasn't anything but this piece of paper with scribbles!" he held out Mikasa's note to the family. Armin grabbed hold of it, and read it softly out to him.

"Dear Mr and Mrs Jager, and Eren, too.

I am Mikasa. I am going to see Eren's friend first because Eren won't wake up. I promise I won't get lost.

Mikasa."

Eren's face flushed red. "Eren, you can't read." Armin sighed. "Didn't you show it to your parents or something?"

"I thought Mikasa was pulling a prank on me, so I got angry and ran out to see if I could find you." he admitted, face still as red as tomato.

"Eren." Mikasa walked next to him. "Sorry."

"No, no... I'm the one who's sorry. I should have woken up earlier. I made you two wait, didn't I?" he stood up and kicked a nearby stone.

"It's okay, Armin read me a story." she beamed happily, pointing at Armin playfully. Eren laughed. "You actually read her a story?" he asked the blonde boy, who nodded slowly.

And the three friends played and talked for the rest of the day.

"It's getting late, mom's going to kill me if I don't bring you back now." Eren said, waving goodbye to Armin, who reluctantly waved back. "You go ahead, Eren. I'll catch up, I promise." Mikasa turned at Armin.

"Thank you for reading me that story. Can we finish it next time?" she smiled, causing Armin to blush slightly. "S-sure." he stuttered, returning the grin.

Speedily, she pecked his flushed cheek, making it flush even harder, before turning away, and running. "Goodbye Armin!" she waved, with Armin stunned. When she was finally out of the picture, Armin touched his cheek. It felt warm.

He liked that feel.


	5. Chapter 5 - It's Been Forever (Final)

**Two years later, the night after their first training...**

"Armin, help." Mikasa called out from behind a tree. The blonde turned his gaze over at her. Her image was silhouetted, dark in the background of the night, but her eyes, despite it being black, shone and stood out. Quickly, he rushed to her side.

"What is it, Mikas- Did you... cut your hair?" he noticed the change in her hair's length, much, much shorter than it was hours prior to this. She nods, indicating the answer. "Eren told me to."

'Eren, huh...' Armin thought to himself, smiling with a bit of disappointment. "It suits you, though!" he laughed. "But.. what's the problem, why did you call me?" he quickly fell back to the subject, questioning her his needed presence.

"Come here." she led the blonde deeper into the forest, where they reach an empty plain. She sits down at the middle of it, by a beautiful white flower that was lighted by the moon. She eyed the place beside of her, inviting Armin to her side.

Without hesitation, the boy sat inches away on her left, eyes on the full moon of the night.

"Hey Armin, remember the day we met?" she smiled. It was the smile she gave him two years, two years ago before all this happened. "Remember you read me a story?"

"Yes..." thinking back, he flushed. "But that book... crushed beneath the ruins of the place we once called home... I never read you the ending, either. I'm sorry." he looked down, the grass blown by the wind. He his knees tight.

"Don't be. Here." Mikasa chimed as she pulled a book from behind. "I found this one in a store a while ago. It's for you, and you only." she handed him a book, brown-covered, with the most familiar title to him as ever.

"Mikasa...?" Armin's eyes widen in disbelief. He hugged the book, tears starts to drop from his eyes. "Now you can read me the ending." she smiled sincerely, just like two years ago. Armin nodded, wiping the tears away.

"One day, we'll go back to Singashina, we'll visit the fountain where we first met, and I'll read this book again and again for you, if you want." he tried to give a smile, in which she returned with a nod.

"Thank you, Mikasa." he started having tears leaked off his eyes again. "How... could I ever repay you?" he mumbled under his breath, in which Mikasa heard.

"Accept this." Mikasa reached out for his cheek, planting a kiss on it, like two years ago. His face once again flushed red, alongside hers, the tone similar to each other's.

"I'm so glad I met you."


End file.
